Magic Trick
by Edwin Nigma
Summary: Logan asks Max and Alec to investigate a very unusual death and things get complicated. Try it out, bail if you don't like. Short(ish) story. MA.
1. Chapter 1

**SET: Pre- "Love Among Runes"**

Logan double checked the crime reports and made sure he read the cause of death especially carefully. _Impossible_. The very idea was ridiculous, people do not just die from a thing like this. He winced when he thought about it. It was a pretty painful way to die and definitely a weird one too.

And if it was weird, with their current luck, there was a 95% chance a transgenic was involved. Almost 100% considering it was a police officer and the Manticore escapees had a thing for hating authority.

That thought made his mind jump to Alec and he smirked. It was probably a miracle that Max had met him first because if Alec had simply been let loose on the world… yikes.

 _That's not entirely true and you know it..._ Logan reminded himself. Maybe at first he could see it but now, Alec had proven he was on their side and fairly trustworthy.

Logan picked up the phone to call Max. Regardless of whatever was going on, if a transgenic was behind this, or even if it wasn't one, someone needed to look into this and it probably shouldn't be the police.

* * *

Max frowned as she listened to the voice on the other end of the line.

"Are you sure? Like, absolutely sure?" she asked again.

Alec closed his locker at Jam Pony and walked over to her. He was a bit bored and bugging Max was usually a good way to keep himself entertained. Then he saw her expression and became a little concerned.

"Hey, everything alright, Maxie?" he asked.

Max just held up a finger for him to wait and his concern shifted to annoyance. He didn't _have_ to try to help. Often, he didn't even want to and this; the whole getting shut up for asking what's wrong, is exactly the reason why he didn't try to make a habit of it.

"Alright...Yeah, got the address. Alec and I will check it out tonight." she answered.

Alec's eyebrows shot up. "I'm doing _what now?_ " he asked.

"Shh." Max replied. Alec's shoulders slumped and he rolled his eyes.

" _Can't believe you pulled me into this…_ " he muttered. "And I don't even know what it _is._ "

"Yes, I've got it… Okay...bye, Logan."

"Oh, _Logan_. That explains it." Alec snarled. Not that he hadn't already guessed who had a hand in forcing Alec into a job on ridiculously short notice.

"Weird death near Sector 5. We're going to look into it. Meet up at Josh's house at 8." Max ordered and started walking away.

Alec darted forward and grabbed her arm to stop her, maybe a little faster than the Ordinaries around him would've been able to but he didn't particularly care about them just now. "Hold up. _Mysterious death?_ What, Logan's having you join to police force or something now? Sorry, _us_? I remind you I didn't agree to this. I could very easily have _plans_ tonight."

"You can miss out on being a bar-fly for one night. There's a good chance it's a transgenic and you owe me."

Alec sighed and wondered why the universe hated him so much to put him in the debt of the one person in the world who would never let him forget it. "Fine, but what kind of death? How did they die? I wanna know what I'm up against here."

Max turned to look at him and with a completely serious expression said: "Death by a million paper cuts." and walked away.

" _And here I was with plans to clean up at the Crash tonight._ " Alec mumbled.

Another night ruined. Great.


	2. Chapter 2

Alec ended up just eating dinner at Joshua's place. If he came late, Max would probably spend the whole time yelling at him for being lazy. It wasn't _his_ fault that he just didn't care that much about the whole deal. He did care, just not as much as the owner of the _every-one-must-be-protected-by-me_ mindset he was stuck with for the next unknown amount of hours. _Every one, that is, except Alec_ he thought to himself.

He didn't know why she still seemed determined to hate him. He was a nice enough guy all things considered...well, actually he had a general idea of why she hated him so much. She still blamed him for the virus that kept her from getting too close with Logan without the poor hacking vigilante keeling over. He'd have to fix that, but not right now.

And then there was the whole 'twin of your dead brother who you cared about a lot' bit. He couldn't fix that one and it was only further proof that the universe was out to get him.

"Medium Fella going with Li'l Fella tonight?" Joshua asked.

"Yeah, Max signed me up for Logan's crusade of the night. Maybe a new transgenic in town." Alec answered. "Hey, do you know about anything that killed by _paper cuts?_ Or just a million little stabs? Any porcupine DNA running around or something?"

Joshua shook his head.

"Great." Alec leaned back on the sofa while Joshua turned back to the canvass. "Well, whatcha painting today, Big Fella?"

"Max."

That peaked Alec's interest although he wasn't sure why. He got up to his feet to see the canvas. Smears of all colors were spread across the canvass. Joshua smiled at the attention and started pointing to the different pieces.

"Up here, lots of deeper colors. Toughness… a little further, lighter. Happy. Hope…. then here-" he gestured to a broad swipe of blueish purple. "-Worry. Worried others get hurt. Wants to protect. Look after Joshua."

Alec nodded. Joshua always dealt with abstract art for color concepts and Max clearly had a soft spot for the transhuman.

"Max worry about Alec too." Joshua added quietly.

Alec frowned. "Not so much there, buddy."

Josh tilted his head to the side and studied Alec for a moment. He was about to say something more but Max stepped into the room.

"Good, you're here." she greeted Alec, who shrugged. "Ready to go?"

"As I'll ever be."

Max smiled at Josh and Alec huffed in annoyance before moving past her out the door. "See you around, Big Fella." he told Josh.

* * *

"You coming or what?" he called once he was out front.

"Yeah, hold on." Max answered before falling into step beside him toward the motorcycle. "I thought you didn't want to come, why are you so eager now?"

Alec shrugged. "Sooner it's over with, sooner I can go home and forget about it."

Max rolled her eyes and started up the bike. She was stuck with Alec. No matter he said, it promised to be a long night for her.


	3. Chapter 3

Alec may have been extremely annoying but he was good in a pinch so Max wanted him along. He'd been fairly consistent at having her back so she was starting to trust him more too. She just really hoped he wouldn't do something stupid to change that anytime soon.

She pulled her bike off to the side and they both climbed off. "This is the place." she said as they both stared up at the massive warehouse. It looked dark, gloomy, uninviting, and had a wide collection of broken windows except for on the third floor.

"Nice digs. D'you think he's up there, whatever they are?"

"That would be my guess."

"Lovely. I haven't been inside enough creepy looking places in my life, let's add another one to the list." Alec grinned. "This is _much_ more fun than hanging out with people who enjoy my company."

"Who could enjoy that?" Max retorted and Alec feigned hurt.

"Plenty of people. There was this redhead just the other night who-"

"-I don't want to hear it."

"Fine by me." he smiled to himself while she walked forward. He'd mastered the art of ending a conversation with Max. All he had to do was start talking about girls. Even non-existent ones. The main reason he wanted to go to the Crash was because he hadn't been in about 3 weeks. Didn't want to risk it with all the paranoia and random neck checks for barcodes.

Max peered into one of the broken windows and Alec did the same.

Inside was a room that was essentially empty apart from litter kicked around the floor. The transgenics crept inside soundlessly. The only "door" was a large gap in the wall like the owners just didn't bother to put a frame in and was cracked around the edge with piles of plaster on the floor. They both stepped through and listened for any kind of sound that anyone was there. It was an empty hallway that split off on either end. If they were Ordinaries, they would've brought flashlights to see the place but their enhanced vision was enough.

"Third floor...any idea how to get there?" Alec whispered.

Max just started walking to the left and Alec followed closely behind. Something was off about this place. Call it instincts but Max's instinct were better than most people's. It didn't help the atmosphere that they were investigating a death. A very derelict light's hung down from the ceiling on long wires. Occasionally, they'd flicker to illuminate the way ahead and cast long eerie shadows along the walls and floor.

They kept walking but everywhere they turned was like another empty hallway exactly like the one before.

"Max…" Alec said quietly but Max kept walking, turning right this time before finding another empty hallway and turned left.

"Max." Alec repeated.

"What?" Max hissed. He always got so annoying on missions like this. Never enough to not want to take him along, but still annoying nonetheless. Especially when he was bored, which was probably the case right now.

"Max, I think we should turn back and go from the outside." he suggested.

"Why?" she stopped and turned back to face him.

"Because, since you hadn't noticed, we're in a maze." He said simply.

Max stopped and looked around. "Alright fine, I just thought we could solve it."

"Yeah, right. You were probably thinking about Logan." he teased and she slugged him in the shoulder hard enough to get her message across.

"I was _not._ Now c'mon." she started walking down the hallway back to the main doors.

Alec stood where he was for a moment, massaging his arm, and then rolled his eyes and began following her. Then something moved behind him.

It's not so much that he saw or heard it as he sensed it. He wasn't alone and he wasn't just talking about Max. His eyes narrowed slightly and he walked backward slowly in the direction Max had disappeared but still watching for any kind of threat. And frowned when he felt his back against a wall. He glanced to his left where Max should be but it was empty.

"Hey, Max? Where'd you go?" he asked.

No answer. _Oh great._ He heard something shift to his right and was surprised to see Max walking down _that way_. Confused, he moved quickly towards her.

"Max, that's not the right way. C'mon let's get out of here."

She made no sign that she heard him, just kept walking down the wrong hallway. "Seriously?" Alec called after her, he'd almost caught up to her. "Let's get out of this place. It's creepy and you're losing your sense of direction for some...reason…"

She still didn't turn or anything. Usually she would've at least nodded if not made some cutting remark. He reached out to grab her shoulder but something stopped his hand in mid air.

 _Glass?_ "What the…" he tapped on the hidden wall in front of him. "Max?" He looked over to her but she had vanished. " _Oh no…_ " He turned to move back, holding his hands out in front of him and hoping he was wrong. His palms hit the glass on the other side. Now more than a little pissed, he rammed his shoulder into it, expecting it to shatter but instead the force seemed to vibrate his shoulder with the beginnings of what promised to be a painful bruise and did nothing to change where he was.

"Max!" he shouted. "Max, I need a little help here!"

He ran his hands around the perimeter, scanning for any breaks that he could use to escape somehow. _There's air in this right?...RIGHT?_ he started to panic before realizing that if there was no air, he was going to need all he could get. He jumped up and about 7 feet from the ground, the unbreakable glass had a lid. Perfect.

"Max!" he yelled again. _No need to panic. Stay calm…_ "Max, seriously? I feel like a mime reject in here!"

"That's not very nice…" a strange voice said. Alec tried to pinpoint its source but it seemed to come from...everywhere…

Another thing he heard was hissing which was equally unnerving. He glanced down at his feet where little puffs of some kind of gas was floating up to him. His eyes widened and he took off his jacket and used it to cover his mouth and nose. He was an X5, he could hold his breath for up to 5 and ½ minutes...in an ideal scenario of course but still. So long as he stayed still and slowed his heartbeat, he could go for a very long time without breathing.

The glass container reminded him ominously of Manticore and the flashback brought back the bad memories.

... _859 in the tank next to him. They'd been communicating during the breathing test. It was supposed to be their last one but also their most challenging. The 5 minute mark was close now. 494 was sure they all felt the uncomfortable tightness crushing them from holding out so long. 5 minutes went by. 494 looked around, 859 could sense it too. The poor guy had a much harder time with these and they'd been signing the time through the glass to give him something else to focus on. They should be done. The 5 minutes was over. 5 minutes 5 seconds. 859 began signing furiously that he was running low. 494 tried to tell him to calm down but it wasn't working. He, himself, was already struggling with holding on to consciousness. 5 minutes 12 seconds. 494's vision began to blur around the edges and go dark. What he could see was terrifying to him. 859 was slamming his hands against the glass, wasting his oxygen in a desperate attempt to break out. 494 tried to move his hands to tell him to stop but the attempt made him dizzy under the water. 5 minutes 18 seconds…_

 _That won't happen this time_ Alec snapped himself out of it. He could hold out...most likely. He knew how to ration oxygen.

Unfortunately, whoever had spoken before must've spotted the barcode.

"I have all the time in the world." it said and Alec had a bad feeling that it was telling the truth.

He sat down on the floor and leaned against the glass and waited. _C'mon Max… any day now… c'mon…_


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm not promising my best work, here. It's been a while since I posted a story so this is more like a practice round... which isn't to say that it won't be good. I'm just giving it a shot.**

Sincerely, E. Nigma

* * *

It took Max about 5 seconds to realize it was far too quiet. She whirled around instantly but Alec wasn't right behind her like she'd thought. She retraced her steps all the way to the hallway where they'd decided to turn back and he still wasn't there.

"Alec?" she called. "Alec, can you hear me?"

The lack of response increased her worry factor by about 300%. _Why does he have such a talent for getting in the most dangerous situations?!_ she wanted to scream but that was a bad idea here. As soon as this was over, and she was sure he was okay, he had a rant coming for him about not staying close by in dangerous situations.

" _Idiot."_ she spat. " _Reckless, careless, idiot._ " _Please be okay_ but she didn't say that part out loud. If he heard her, she'd ever hear the end of it.

Missing in a maze. Of course. She turned back and walked down the other side of the hallway but...there was nothing there but the wall. She could've sworn there was another direction to choose from before but she was already getting mixed up in here…

"Oh, no. No way is that happening." she growled.

Clearly, whoever it was was messing with her. Why else would they hide in a maze? To stay more hidden and trap people inside. Or maybe they were bored. She turned down the only available walkway and as she turned around the corner, it led to a dead end. _Great._

"Looks like I'm solving the maze, then." she muttered and began winding her way to the center.

* * *

By his count, he had about 2 minutes left before he might actually need to breathe but he was going to wait until he was sure whatever was in there with him wasn't lethal. He watched for Max and when he saw her turn around the corner his felt immense relief. She'd get him out of here. She always managed to get him out of crap like this which was, in part, why he owed her so much.

The trouble is, she didn't seem to see him. He rose to his feet but she just left. He attacked the glass wall for ten seconds before feeling a bit light headed. _Make that one minute or less_ he corrected. He'd wasted energy.

More of the gas started pouring out from the little vents in the bottom of the "box" and he grew more worried. He didn't mean to, but he must've breathed some of it in. His head was feeling very light and his knees buckled from underneath him.

" _Oh crap...Maxie… help….."_ but the world spun and faded out.


	5. Chapter 5

Max was getting annoyed. She should've made it there by now but the layout was shifting on her constantly. Whoever was controlling it didn't seem to want to get her hurt, just very very confused. Then again, it also wasn't letting her leave which was a bad sign. Not to mention she hadn't seen Alec anywhere. She could've used his snarkiness around now to lighten the mood.

Finally, she decided it was pointless to be wasting her energy and sat down.

"Whoever you are can we just get to the talking or the fighting now?" she called to the sky. She wasn't actually expecting much of a response.

"Who are you? And what do you want?" a strange voice asked. It didn't have any particular source either. Like some kind of ventriloquist's trick of throwing their voice.

"My name is Max. I came here to find you." She answered. "My friend was in here with me, I don't suppose you could tell me where he is?"

"Why do you want to find me?" the voice asked, avoiding her question.

"If you're a transgenic, I want to help you."

"How?" the voice, she decided, was male and, by the answer, seemed to be transgenic.

"I can get you somewhere safe or get you far away from here if that's what you need." she answered. She wasn't going to mention the police officer's death. The SPD weren't exactly the most honest of officers in the world and lately tensions had been high between transgenics and the law.

"I don't want to leave."

Max blinked in surprise. "Okay? Do you mean you don't want to leave Seattle or what?"

"This building is perfect for me. I can do whatever I want here."

"Well, I could find you a place that's safer. You can't stay here, Ordinaries come in here-"

"-They don't matter. They're my pawns." the voice snapped.

The wording bugged Max greatly. "People aren't pawns."

"I run the world here. I'm not leaving."

Max pondered her options. If she could get out of here, she was pretty sure putting up warnings around the building would keep Ordinaries out. "Alright. Fine. You can stay here if you want, just let me and my friend leave and we'll leave you alone."

There was silence that made Max start to worry after a moment or two.

"No. I don't like losing pieces to my games."

* * *

Logan got more nervous after 8 o'clock. Usually, Max or Alec would check in if they'd found anything and...well, it was almost 9 now… He debated it for a minute or two before dialing Alec's cell phone. Max's was still at Logan's apartment so it wouldn't be of much help.

It went to voicemail. He tried again with the same result before calling Max's pager and waiting for her to call him. He gave it 5 minutes before he started packing a few necessities and calling both numbers again with no answer. He had given Max the address so he knew where to look.

He just hoped he'd get there in time and hopefully no one was hurt. Not even Alec.


	6. Chapter 6

Max's pager went off and she recognized the number. _Logan_. He probably wanted a status update or something. She would've had her new cell phone with her but it had broken recently and she'd given it to Logan so he could fix it.

He was probably looking for them now. Probably on his way there… _Oh gosh, Logan don't, please_ she hoped that maybe telepathic messages would be enough but also knew it was pointless.

She had about 10 minutes at best before he got caught up in this whole mess with her and Alec. Great. Just super. Why not throw Josh into the mix just to make everything that much more difficult. And hey, Ames White didn't know where they were, bring him in here somehow. Bring it on. Max had a bad day already going for her.

"So now what?" she called. The last thing that the strange voice had said was foreboding and she was really hoping there was going to be some easy way out of this.

The transgenic had a habit of doing what she didn't expect. Instead of answering with silence or actual words, he answered with something that sounded distinctly like a recording.

" _Max!"_ She froze. That was Alec's voice. Worse still, that was Alec's voice when he was in trouble and knew it. " _Max, I need a little help here!"_

She took off running toward the source, knowing it was probably a trick but at least she had something to do. It seemed to be coming from a little bit to her right so she chased after it. Even if it didn't lead her to Alec, it would probably lead her to the first speaker.

She quickly blurred around a corner and stopped when she saw something strange on the floor. It was small and flat and when she crouched down to look at it, it was a playing card. Jack of Hearts to be exact. The disturbing thing about it was the fact that the edge had a rust colored stain. _Death by paper cuts_. _You've got to be kidding me._

" _Max!_ " She left the card on the floor and kept moving before she spotted a door. At least it was progress. She turned the handle and opened it to see a flight of stairs leading up. She looked carefully for traps before going up the steps.

"Do you know what the key to any magic trick is?" the voice asked without warning. He sounded much closer than before but still without a location. "It's the ability to make the audience, or volunteer, look away. You have to use misdirection."

"Where is Alec?" Max demanded. "And what did you do with him?"

"Your _friend_ is still alive if that's what you're wondering. He's more clever than I thought he would be. He noticed in seconds that it was a trap but, of course, by then he was already in it. I just had to wait."

"Where is he?" Max repeated.

"A magician never reveals their secrets, Max."

The fact that he said her name bugged her. He knew it now but she still had no clues as to who this guy was.

"I've never been one for magic tricks." she laced the warning clearly in her words. "Give him back and we'll leave you alone. If you don't, things might get more on the hostile side."

"Hostile you say?"

A strange ringing sound was the only split-second warning she got before she ducked and the knife embedded itself in the wall above her.

"I do love a thrilling, death-defying act, you know." the voice actually seemed to chuckle.

More objects started flying towards her. _How is he doing this?!_ She jumped to the side to avoid a chair that splintered on the wall. One of the pieces hit her in the back but she didn't notice until she saw it fly out in front of her… _Is it fake?_

She heard a knife whistling through the air again and dodged it before moving closely to inspect it. It was real. Sharpened to a point. Three more suddenly launched at her and she stepped through the broken chair to avoid them.

 _Some things are real, some are fake_ she decided. Now all she needed to do was find out which was which. This day just kept getting better and better.

She pried a few of the throwing knives out of the wall, if they were real, they could work for her too. A few more shot towards her as well as a vase. She ducked out of the way and followed the trail where they'd come from and threw one of the knives into the shadows.

She heard a small muffled yelp and let herself smile. She could work with this system. More objects came from nowhere and she moved again.

* * *

Logan looked up at the old building. The lights were off inside and he pulled the flashlight from the bag he'd brought with him and tucked the .32 into his jacket pocket and hoped he wouldn't need to use it.

There was a loud crash coming from the 2nd story and Logan jumped into action. He didn't want to go inside since that would probably take too long so he went around the corner and found a fire escape. He climbed up to the second floor and paused, debating whether or not he should go in without seeing the situation.

He peered in through a broken window and had to jump back to avoid getting hit in the face with a chair. He expected the glass to shatter but it didn't. The flying object simply passed through and vanished into thin air after another two feet.

 _What the…?_ He looked in again. He didn't shine the flashlight in since it would give away his position but he saw Max, dodging and throwing back like some kind of lethal dodgeball game with knives and furniture. '

Whatever it was, she actually seemed to be doing okay but… Alec wasn't there. Logan frowned. Alec was supposed to have her back on missions like this and, despite past offenses, Logan didn't think the X5 would abandon Max, no matter how reluctantly he agreed to the missions.

The Ordinary glanced up to the third floor where none of the windows seemed to be broken at all. Curious, Logan climbed up another set of stairs before opening the door and stepping in.

He was met by a distorted image of himself. He raised his hand and the reflection did the same and Logan might've laughed at the unexpected sight if there wasn't something sinister going on. He looked around the room more and felt like he was in some kind of carnival or behind the stage of a magic act.

Playing cards littered the floor, several top hats were scattered around, a cliche box in which people would get "sawed in half" during performances sat nearly forgotten in the corner, and several other random items (including 2 cages holding rabbits and doves) filled the small room. It was like a storage cabinet for cheap street tricks.

"This is weird.." he muttered, pushing aside an old framed poster advertising " _The Great Bernietti_ ".

He opened a door at the end of the strange storage room and found himself in a much larger one with even more things you'd see in a magic show from before the Pulse. He flicked on the lightswitch to get a better look. Logan wasn't typically sentimental about before the Pulse since it couldn't fix what had happened but seeing the corny magic wands and hats reminded him of the little tricks that his grandfather would do sometimes. Nothing big, just the usual quarter behind the ears gag but Logan missed it all the same.

A massive glass tank filled with water was to his right. A heavy looking grate lid stood open, ready to clamp down on whoever volunteered for the death-defying act.

The classic box with a few rusted swords lying nearby that would be shoved through the box one by one until it seemed impossible that a person could come out unscathed… the police officer.

Logan cursed himself for not figuring it out earlier. These props looked harmless enough, sure, but Houdini's life wasn't dangerous for nothing. Whoever was in here had been using 'magic' to kill people… And Alec was still missing.

He didn't hate Alec. He often found him annoying and immature, but he never really wished harm on the guy...okay except for one or two times. There were good reasons for both times, though. He quickly moved through the room and started down the stairs, pulling out the .32 as he opened the door to see Max turn and gape at him.

"Logan! You shouldn't be here!" she shouted, dodging a knife and throwing one of her own at the source.

"Come this way, third floor stairs here. There's light up there."

Max turned to follow him before a strange voice shrieked. "No! That's cheating!"

"I don't want to play your dumb game anyways!" Max snapped back and slammed the door behind her and Logan as they bolted up the stairs.

"Where's Alec?" Logan asked.

"I don't know. I lost him almost as soon as we came in here."

"I think I know what killed the police officer." Logan began.

Max beat him to it. "Playing cards. Lots of them. Not sure exactly _how_ they managed to shoot them that fast but a transgenic could probably do it."

They ran into the brighter room. Max took in the strange surroundings in an instant while Logan took aim at the door...


	7. Chapter 7

"Uncomfortably warm" and "stuffy" were the first words that came to mind when Alec became more aware of his surroundings. He opened his eyes and added "dark" and "small" to the list.

Some light got into the little space, yes, but not much. _Hey, at least I'm alive_ he reminded himself. Of course, that probably meant he was bait which… in many cases is the worst position to be in… Still, he trusted Max. She could get him out of this, she always did. He tried to not to take it for granted but it was reassuring most of the time.

 _Okay, Alec, time to think of a plan so Maxie doesn't have to do all the work, here..._

* * *

Max had never been one for guns but she didn't mind so much when Logan was the one shooting. He never pulled the trigger without cause unlike the guards at Manticore… Logan always tried to do what he thought was right and that was comforting to Max. It was part of why she loved him...she didn't want to say it out loud, but she wasn't entirely sure if it was still romantic now… they'd been growing apart from the virus but maybe there was more of that than she realized…

But now was not the time or place. Max heard a sound coming from a large box off to the side. She glanced back at Logan before moving toward it.

" _Max!_ " It was Alec but the box muffled his voice.

"Hold on, Alec! I'll be right there!" she rushed over to it. Something felt off. She stopped without warning and turned around before a bullet was fired in her direction.

Max ducked out of the way before rushing toward Logan and knocking the gun from his hand, careful not to make any contact with him from the virus (it was easier said than done).

"Logan! Snap out of it!" she yelled at him, hoping to shake him out of his zombie-like trance. His eyes were glassed over and he seemed to be mumbling something before taking a swing at her.

"Logan Cale! Wake up!" she tried again, dodging the attacks with relative ease. Finally, she decided it was pointless and sighed in defeat. She ran to the side and grabbed a rope coil. "Sorry about this, Logan."

It took about 5 seconds for him to be wrapped up with the knot in place. She moved him carefully over to the side where he was less likely to get hurt. He was still completely out of it which she was getting worried about.

" _Max!"_

She turned back. _Of course...how could I forget him..._ her own thoughts became sarcastic if Alec was involved. Then she saw what he was shouting about.

A small, pudgy sort of man stood near the box where Alec's voice was coming from...and stabbed the sword through the middle.

"ALEC!" The words flew out of her mouth before she could even comprehend what just happened. She blurred forward only to stumble from a tripwire that she hadn't seen before. The man quickly picked up two more swords and sliced into the box with them.

"No! Alec!" Max grabbed the man by the collar and threw him hard into the wall, not caring too much about him. She looked down at the box and paused, just trying to remember how to breathe and terrified by what she might see if she did anything more.

" _Maxie….help…."_ the voice was so quiet. She pulled out the three swords, hoping to at least lessen any pain he must be feeling and giving him a faster release. But she couldn't open the box. She couldn't see Alec be dead because she couldn't see Ben dead again. Alec was her friend, annoying and arrogant, yes, but still.

There was no sound from it anymore. A few months earlier, Max probably would never think she could shed tears for the transgenic she met upon her return to Manticore but here she was. Logan wasn't even coherent enough to comfort her.

So her sadness turned to rage.

In a split second, Max turned to the little, pot-bellied man. He was trying to get to his feet while attempting to ignore what Max hoped to be a splitting headache from the wall-collision. She grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the wall again before throwing him across the floor.

She had a strict policy of no-killing but this might be the time for an exception. She didn't even have words to scream at the guy. Nothing came to mind other than to make him pay.

He was a transgenic so he was much harder to damage than an Ordinary would be but that didn't stop Max. The only thing that made her pause for more than a second was when she saw the flash of silver flying towards her again.

Max jumped back from the knife before running to catch it and just before she threw it back at the newcomer, the man, who was identical to the first, pointed up above the water tank. She threw the knife anyways and was pleased when it scratched his side.

The stout man, who'd taken a few good punches already, ran to his twin and pulled him to his feet. Max was ready to charge them both before she looked up to what the 2nd man had pointed at.

There, suspended in the air above the water, was a large, moving knapsack. Max blinked before switching her attention back to the box. _Some things are real and some are fake_. Now there was no cause to grieve, only to be more angry at the source if that was even possible anymore.

She looked back to make sure Logan was still okay and not a threat before turning back to face off against the two transgenics.

"You're from psy-ops aren't you?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"And what if we are? It just means we're better than you X-series types." One answered.

"You can jump high, hooray for you. We can rule the world." the other finished.

"I can take you both down without breaking a sweat is what I can do." Max baited. "And I think I'm going to do that now."

She blurred forward, dodging the objects that came hurtling toward her. The instant before she reached them, one of them turned and threw a knife up above the water tank. She hesitated and watched as it efficiently severed the rope and dropped its weight down into the tank.

 _It might not be him, it might be a trick_ she reminded herself. One of the twins sprinted without warning and flicked a switch that dropped the grated top over the tank.

The world moved a lot slower than it should've. _They wouldn't use that kind of insurance unless there was something worth keeping in there._ She ignored it for now, Alec would be fine for up to 5 minutes in there if he even was in there.

Things One and Two on the other hand were clearly hoping they could make a break for it.

"Not a chance, boys." she charged at them while they ran but she was faster, she was an X5 after all.

She tackled them both and threw a few punches for good measure until they were both too groggy to run. Max looked up and over to Logan who had started to wake up.

Perfect.

"Can you get out of that yourself?" she called.

"If you tied me up, I very much doubt it." he answered with a shrug. "What happened anyways? You were surrounded by these…" he frowned. "They weren't real, were they?"

"No. You nearly shot me."

Logan looked a bit sheepish. "Sorry. In my defense, I believed it was in _your_ defense."

Max smiled a little and helped him out of the rope before bringing it over the the twins.

"Oddly enough, this was all I needed." and soon the twins and Logan had switched spots.

"What about Alec?" Logan asked. "I-oh. Found him."

Max turned and saw Logan moving toward the water tank.

"We'll get you out, don't worry." he called to the younger man in the tank who looked incredibly annoyed.


	8. Chapter 8

Alec could feel that he was suspended and that wasn't very comforting. The last time he'd woken up in a situation like this, it had ended with him owing Max $5000 for getting a micro-explosive out of the back of his neck and him costing her the cure for the virus...not one of his best days…

He didn't expect for there to be so much commotion down below him but it made him worry less. There was only one person he could trust to make that much trouble and that was Max. She'd get him out of this.

Then he dropped.

About 26 different expletives all in different languages immediately jumped to his mind and that was before he hit what he was sure was water. Panic seized him for a moment before he started tearing his way out of whatever this weird bag was. With the adrenaline, it took him all of 8 seconds to leave it on the bottom of the glass tank and see Logan on the other side with Max.

" _We'll get you out, don't worry._ " Logan said.

Great. Alec's day already sucked and now _Logan_ was there too. The same guy who made him and Max go to this weird place.

Max stepped up to the glass. "How long do you think you have?"

Alec thought about it for a moment before holding up 4 fingers. He'd lost a bit of air from breaking out and from hitting the water. Max nodded and looked around the room, probably for some kind of ladder or something so she could get the lid off of the glass...tank…

Alec shook his head to get the memory out and then tried to stay still. Less movement, more air and more time.

Logan was on the other side, swinging at the glass with a metal rod of some kind. The effort was appreciated but it didn't do much...except for remind 494 of the other transgenic pounding on the glass…

 _5 minutes and 20 seconds. 859 kicked off the bottom of the tank to get to the top for air. It was pointless and they all knew it. 5 minutes 22 seconds. 859 tried to break the only thing keeping him from breathing, wasting whatever remained of his oxygen in the process. 494 felt his weight trying to pull him down from oxygen deprivation. His vision was clouding over. 5 minutes 27 seconds. 859 wasn't moving anymore. He'd gone terribly still. 5 minutes 29 seconds. 494 was about to join him, he could feel it._

 _The top of the tank came off and 12 transgenics shot to the top of the water for air. 494 kicked off but he was slower, desperation made him keep going until he coughed and sputtered as he grabbed the edge of the tank to pull himself out onto dry land but had to stop with just holding his head above water. Only 3 of them managed to actually get immediately out. 2 men in all white stepped toward the tank next to 494 and pulled the figure out and carried him away…_

" _Alec? Alec, are you alright?_ " someone was still pounding on the glass.

Alec looked up and noticed only now that he'd curled up and been unresponsive. _How long have I been in here?_ He calculated the air he still had left; about 2 minutes worth.

Logan looked worried and shouted for Max to hurry. A strange assortment of broken objects lay scattered around the tank, probably broken on the glass in an attempt to shatter it.

" _Are you okay, Alec?_ " Logan asked again and Alec nodded. " _You've got plenty of time, okay? We're going to get you out."_

* * *

"Hey Max? How're we doing on finding something to break this?" Logan called. He glanced back at Alec with worry. The guy wasn't looking too good. Alec was always obnoxiously confident with a dash of devil-may-care but...he looked panicked in there… it was understandable why, of course, but that had never stopped him from putting up an impressive facade before.

He walked over to Max and waited until she looked at him. "Max, he's freaking out in there and we need to get him out _now_."

Max turned back to the tank in confusion. "He's not freaking out. We've got 2 minutes."

"Max." something in his voice stopped her from brushing him off. "Max, I'm serious. He just completely spaced out for the last 2 minutes. Something's starting to get to him with this."

Max's eyes instantly narrowed and she switched her attention to the twins before stomping her way over there and crouching down in front of them.

"What do you want?" the snarled at the same time.

"Two things: 1. A way to get him out of there, and 2. Stop messing with him or you'll make me mad." She said simply. "You have 5 seconds to answer."

"Messing with him? I'm not doing anything." one of them argued. He seemed sincere enough in his attempt to avoid another face-to-fist collision.

Max glared at the other one.

"Hold on, I'm looking into it." he responded. "Hmmmm… interesting."

"What?" Max snapped.

"He thinks he's got another minute and a half but in reality he's got about 20 seconds before he starts having a panic attack and losing all of his air."

"Then _stop it._ Stop whatever you're doing!"

"I'm not doing anything." he gave her a perfectly straight face.

She punched him hard in the jaw. "I don't believe you. Stop it _NOW!_ "

"Or what?" he spat.

"Or I break my no-killing rule." she growled.

His eyebrows went up. "Oh my, how _noble_. You're one of _those types_ , hmm? Figures. Well, let me and my brother go and we'll help him out. You have 5 seconds or he starts hallucinating."


	9. Chapter 9

**Got a lightning fast request. Who am I to refuse?**

 **\- E. Nigma**

* * *

Something was very wrong when Alec realized he was no longer alone in the water tank. He turned his head just slightly to the left and there he was. 859. Just sitting calmly and staring at Alec.

494 didn't move. He wasn't entirely sure what would happen if he did but it probably wouldn't be good and he was already getting close to his last minute marker. _Stay calm and ignore him. He's not real. There's no way he's real._

" _You didn't help me."_ the words took him by surprise. The voice was watery, distorted, but easily recognizable at his old unit mate.

 _He's not real. Not real. Stay calm._ But his heartrate was spiking. He closed his eyes and pretended 859 just wasn't there.

" _You didn't help me. I told you I was drowning."_

 _Doesn't exist. Not real._

" _ **Listen to me, 494.**_ "

Alec started shaking his head. _Not real. Absolutely not real. Can't be real._ He looked up and 859 was moving towards him. Alec kicked off the glass to move away from him.

" _You can't get away that easily, 494."_

* * *

"Max! Something's wrong with him!" Logan shouted.

Alec had started freaking out in the water and Logan didn't know what else to try to break him out.

"Max! I'm serious!"

Max glared at the twins. "Fine, you win!"

She cut the rope and they both started running for the exit. Max turned back to Logan and Alec. _Oh gosh, Alec!_ With one glance at the twins she could see they hadn't let go of him yet.

"We had a deal!" Max shouted.

They ignored her and kept running. Unfortunately for them, it's hard to keep running when a bullet catches you in the leg.

Thing 2 fell down, grabbing Thing 1 and pulling him to the ground. Max caught up to them immediately and dragged them back.

"Let him go or one of you goes out the window." she warned.

Both looked terrified of the thought. "Okay! Okay!" they held their hands up in surrender. "It probably won't do you any good though. The damage is already done."

Max disliked being defeated in any way. Especially if someone had the nerve to tell her when she was defeated. The mouthy one crashed through the window. She turned to the other.

"Key. Now. Or you learn to fly too."

The pudgy transgenic pulled an old rusty key from his pocket. "There's a step-ladder in the supply closet under a poster." he stammered, pointing to a door off to the side.

Max let go of his collar. "Your brother's alive down there. I want you two out of this city and if you hurt anyone ever again I will find you."

The transgenic nodded and bolted out a window and down the fire escape. Max ran to the door and carried the step ladder out and to the tank. She was determined to ignore the lack of movement inside the tank. He was alright. He was always alright. That was literally his _thing_.


	10. Chapter 10

**Just a general reminder: I love Alec. Seriously. I love the guy so much, he's had so much character development in one year of knowing Max and he's just generally fantastic so I promise - I'm not going to kill him. All the way.**

 **Sorry if I made a few of you sweat a little bit over this... but at the same time I gotta admit I do love the power...**

 **\- E. Nigma**

* * *

859 moved faster than any ghost had the right to. He latched his hand around Alec's throat. _Oh gosh this is it I'm gonna die! I don't wanna die! not like this! Not like this!_

His vision was fading out. He cursed himself for using so much of his oxygen just to run away from 859. The pressure buildup in his head was messing with his thoughts. Nothing looked clear anymore. 859 was no longer visible but the grip around his neck seemed tighter if anything.

He made the mistake of breathing in some of the water and started to cough. He tried to make himself stop but his air was was nothing left to do. Everything blurred. He couldn't tell if the pounding was someone hitting the glass or just his own pulse still fighting.

He couldn't tell the exact point when he stopped moving and gave up.

* * *

When he became truly desperate, Logan even tried breaking through with one of the swords lying by the box. Alec was a pain in the neck but he was a pain in the neck that Logan and Max still cared about. Logan relied on Alec to be there for Max when he couldn't. Not to mention if Max lost Alec… Logan didn't want to think about that.

"Just hold on! We'll think of something!" he shouted again but it was like a broken record at this point.

In all of his life, Logan Cale never wanted to see anybody die. Especially not one of his friends and not right in front of him. Alec started to shudder and Logan didn't know whether to keep trying knowing it was pointless or turn away so he wouldn't have to see it.

He looked to Max and saw the brothers running away with her shouting at them. They weren't listening and Logan made his frustration work for him. With one shot, one of them collapsed, holding his leg. It gave Max enough time to catch up to them. Logan turned back and his heart stopped for a moment...because Alec had stopped too.


	11. Chapter 11

Max pulled him out by the arms, oblivious to the cascade of water that splashed over the side and her as she did so. None of it mattered. Once he was mostly out, she heaved him over her shoulders and carried him fireman style as she walked down the steps of the ladder.

Logan knew better than to say anything when her face was completely expressionless. She set him down on the ground carefully and wiped her eyes. Logan sat down across from her, unsure of what to do. There were many times when Logan wished the virus was gone and this was the moment he wanted it most, just so he could hug her and tell her it was going to be alright.

But he couldn't. That was why he counted on Alec but now…

"No."

Logan looked up and saw Max shaking her head.

"No. No. No. This is not going to happen." she moved up to her knees, balled one hand into a fist and layered it with the other and started compressions. If she noticed any of the water coming from Alec's mouth she ignored it. She just kept going.

"You are _not dying on me today,_ 494\. Don't you even _think_ about it!" she shouted. "C'mon. Wake up."  
"Max, I-..." Logan couldn't finish that sentence. Not right now. Not when she was grasping at straws. _Besides_ he thought _there might be a chance…_ There was still hope. There was always hope when Max was around. Even if Alec was as pale as marble with only the oxygen deprived veins in his face and neck to provide coloring.

She placed her head on Alec's chest to listen for a heartbeat, frowned, and kept going.

"C'mon, Alec…" she bit her lip for a moment. _It's worth a shot_ … "So help me, you'd better not die on me after this."

She pressed her lips to his and Logan saw his chest move up and down twice before Max had to pull back as a half a gallon of water poured out of Alec's mouth. Max wiped her lips and switched back to compressions, ignoring everything but the steps she needed to follow.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Logan asked, feeling a bit useless in this whole thing. It was pointless to think like that since there might not even be anything to do but still.

"No, just… don't let me give up on him."

"...Okay…"

She breathed for Alec two more times and Logan could tell she was getting even more desperate. Max said a quick prayer to the Blue Lady and whatever being could change this and somehow make everything better.

"Please… please… please…" she whispered. "Please don't die… please…"

It started with a cough. Max and Logan jumped back in surprise, both with the slight impression that they must've simply imagined it.

The coughing continued. Alec rolled onto his side, throwing up and generally trying to clear out his lungs and stomach from the water he'd swallowed and attempting to get the air he'd been deprived of for far too long.

"Al-Alec?" Max could hardly believe it. Alec looked up at her, blinking slowly as he tried to register what just happened before she tackled him with a hug. "I thought you were dead! Do you have any idea how worried I was?! Do you even care?! Don't ever do that ever again!"

Alec slowly managed to pat her on the back despite the shakiness of his hands. "Did you miss me or somethin', Maxie?" His voice was hoarse and his words slurred ever so slightly but Max didn't care. Another coughing fit seized him and Max was still trying to figure out how she was feeling so the other man answered, grinning.

"Yeah, she missed you." Logan nodded.

Alec gave him a thumbs up. "What did I do right? I gotta take notes if I want to stay on Maxie's good side."

Max pulled back and slugged him in the arm. "You scared me half to death, you _numskull_. And you'd better not do that again."

Alec nodded. "Okay, got it: don't do anything crazy on Halloween." His head dipped slightly from exhaustion as he nearly passed out again and Max caught him to ease him back to the ground to recover more.

* * *

 **Told you, I refuse to kill Alec. Hope I didn't give anyone a heart attack. This is kinda a therapy for me since I was on Max's side of this situation once but I didn't want to put too much detail into it, but I needed to write it out 'cause it freaked me out a lot and I didn't even know the kid. Sorry if anyone found this too relatable or graphic that could've triggered anything.**


	12. Chapter 12

They split off from Logan and Max dropped Alec off at his apartment. He was still a little unsteady on his feet so she followed him in to make sure he was okay.

"So, I owe you again, huh Max?" He asked as he flopped onto the couch. Max sat down on the opposite end and nodded.

"Basically."

Alec frowned for a moment in thought. "But, in all actuality, this should cancel one of them out considering I was helping you out when it happened. In fact, I nearly gave my life for one of Logan's dumb missions because you asked me to help."

"Whatever. You still owe me about 500 times even after that."

"Not true, it's more like 4, maybe up to 6."

Max raised an eyebrow. "And the 500 grand you need to pay back still?"

Alec shrugged. "I'm working on it."

"Yeah, right." Max rolled her eyes and Alec smirked.

"You doubt me too much. I freakin' came back from the dead today. I can do anything."

"More like I brought you back to life."

"You-...you did?" Alec seemed a bit shocked.

"Well, yeah. Did you think you just magically woke up after being in that tank for 6 minutes?"

" _6 minutes…_ " Alec mumbled.

Max pursed her lips and studied his expression. He was staring at the floor but his mind was far away somewhere. "Hey, I wanted to ask about that."

Alec's gaze left the floor and went back to her. "About what?"

"The tank. Those jerks were from Psy-Ops, they were messing with your head. What made you freak out in the water like that? You should've been okay for longer but something made you panic. What was it?"

 _Of course Max could pinpoint the one thing…_ Alec mentally cursed everything leading up to this. "Do I really have to answer?"

"Alec, I'll figure it out eventually anyways. You started acting weird even before those guys started doing their fear-factor thing. What happened?"

Alec shook his head and buried his face in his hands. "When you broke out the first time, and you actually talked to people about it, like Logan, did it-...?"

"...Did it what?"

Alec shifted and scratched the back of his head, refusing to make eye-contact. "All the crap we had to deal with? The...less than pleasant experiments, the training, the... _everything_ : Did it help?"

"I think it did."

"Of course you'd say that…." Alec growled.

"Alec, you'll never know until you try."

"And you'd say that too."

"Alec…."

Alec sighed and leaned back on the couch. "859. That's who I saw. They were in the tank with me, trying to kill me."

"Why? Who's 859?"

"He was in my unit. He was in the tank next to mine on the last test we did when we were somewhere around 14. They never did get us farther than 5 minutes up to that day. We were signing back and forth to pass the time and keep our minds off it..."

"And what happened?"

"5 minutes went by and they didn't let us up. I thought they had made a mistake and any second they were going to lift the lids to let us out but they didn't… then I thought they were trying to kill us. That we'd failed somehow and this was the easiest way to get rid of the whole unit...they waited until 5 minutes and 30 seconds."

"859?"

Alec shook his head. "Didn't make it. I almost didn't either. It took about everything I had just to make it to the top when they let us out… I guess that's kinda why I...ummm… yeah."

"You're afraid of water?"

" _Am not._ " he defended. "I helped with the fish girl, didn't I? There was a very obvious water-risk with that but I did the job anyways."

"So, what?" Max asked. "Enclosed spaces and water? Or not being able to get out when you want?"

Alec stood up. "I shouldn't have told you this. It's fine. Just go."

"Hey," she grabbed his arm and stood up too. "That's okay, really. It's entirely understandable. I would hate being there too, trust me."

Alec shrugged her hand off and walked into the kitchen.

"Should I pour you a drink or are you leaving?"

Max pulled up a chair. "I'm feeling like talking."

"You sure you don't want your lover-boy for that?" Alec teased, pulling the bottle down from a cabinet before noticing the smile on his friend flicker slightly. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah." She forced a smile. "He's not really _my_ 'lover-boy' or whatever so much anymore. And he tends to do more of the talking when we're together."

Alec's grin dropped. _Knew it._ _I knew it. I have called it for so long._ He took the chair next to her and set the two glasses in front of them. "Well, I'm all ears. Get all your complaints out."

"Nah, I don't want to rant to you. You almost died today."

"What?" Alec's eyes widened. "You've got to be kidding me. That's all you ever _do_ when I'm around. I thought it was my job to be your verbal punching bag."

"And you were just _okay with that?_ "

Alec shrugged. "Well, frequently I deserve it, so that's one reason. It's just my way of paying you back a little bit, since I owe you so much anyways. Still, rant away. I've got nothing better to do and I've even got something if it gets too annoying." He picked up the glass and swished its contents around with a wink. He took a sip and then set it down. "Go ahead now that I've braced myself."

Max looked down at the table and Alec smirked when he saw she was about ready to burst. " _Okay, fine_. But only 'cause I've had a stressful week." She blurted.

' _You have a stressful week_ _ **every week**_ _, Maxie'_ Alec wanted to say but didn't. So she started her monologue and Alec pretended he didn't care too much about her complaints about Logan.

They weren't going to stay together. Alec had seen it after watching the two of them interact for 10 minutes total. Max was fire and Logan was ice. Both hinder the other and Alec, while he appreciated the logic and stats that Logan would contribute, liked Max's energy more. He'd wondered for a long time just how bright she would be if she didn't have to worry about melting the computer geek she was so attached to. _Maybe if...no…_ he wouldn't let himself think that. He doubted it would ever happen and if he ever finished that thought, it would just cause trouble.

She changed topics from Logan to work to stopping Ames to keeping transgenics safe to Logan and every topic in between. Alec just listened, nodded every now and then, and occasionally took another drink (especially if the topic was Ames White).

"...And in general, I'm kinda freaking out." she let out a deep breath and slumped deeper into the seat. "Okay. I think I'm good."

Max found herself having to...alter… a few of her thought tangents while she was giving her spiel. She talked about Logan, yes, but not about the other piece of that. The bit that was _really_ on her mind. Talking about that in front of Alec would give him far too much for him to blackmail her with later on and she couldn't quite bring herself to do that. _Besides,_ she reasoned _it would be pointless. He's selfish, egocentric, reckless, annoying,_ _ **super**_ _talkative, and…_ and he'd just sat there and listened to her complain for...she glanced at the clock in surprise: 2 hours. Wow.

"You sure?" Alec asked. "You didn't open up a phone book and go down each of the names for what they did wrong yet."

Max blushed slightly. She'd rambled for a long time.

"Hey, I can stay here longer if you really need to talk more… or, just, you know…" he waved a hand ambiguously. "...whatever."

Max tilted her head and scrutinized him for a solid 5 seconds.

"What?" he asked finally.

"Nothing." she shook her head and turned to leave.

"Do I have something in my teeth? Spill."

Max just laughed and shook her head. "Nah, you're good. Handsome as ever. I'm going to go home."

"I know you're not tired yet, I've got the same DNA mix as you've got… well, sorta. Don't think I've got shark… what does that do exactly?"

"Doesn't matter, but Original Cindy doesn't much appreciate having me come in at 4:30 in the morning and waking her up."

She walked over to the door before turning and giving a small wave. "Thanks for the drink and the 2 hours of ranting. I'll take that off your I.O.U.'s."

And with that she was gone.

The remaining transgenic let out a deep breath and then put the bottle away. He glanced at the door one more time before switching off the light and going to bed. He knew he probably wasn't going to actually fall asleep for a long time but hey, he almost died today, so he tried anyways.

 _Had she said he was_ _handsome_ _?_

Sleep was no longer priority.


	13. Chapter 13

**Lucky 13, here's the ending. Hope you enjoyed reading!**

* * *

Max moved around her apartment stealthily and without a sound to wake up her roommate. She peeled off her jacket and draped it on a chair before going to sleep. She decided she should at least try even if her shark DNA made it difficult.

Staring at the ceiling had been her past time when she'd first moved in… unfortunately, she now had every divet and speck memorized. She turned and glanced at the clock on the side table.

The tapping at her door confused her for a moment… but she was bored, might as well investigate.

She creaked it open, hoping her roommate would sleep through it, and was surprised at who was there.

"Hey, um…" After everything that had happened that night, this was probably the strangest to her. Alec was at her door… and apparently at a loss for words.

"Is there a problem?" Max asked hesitantly.

"Not really, I just wanted to... " he trailed off and looked at her slightly confused and Max became instantly aware that she was in what she qualified as pajamas. "Sorry, were you asleep?" he asked.

"Not really. Alec, what are you doing here?"

Alec stared at the floor for a moment and then looked up at her. "I never thanked you for the whole… you know... thing…"

A small smile made an appearance on Max's face and Alec gave a sort of shrug. "You came over to my apartment to say 'thank you'?"

"...Well… It came to my attention that I sorta died so… yeah." He scratched the back of his head.

Max stepped back from the door and motioned for him to come in. He did, reluctantly and studied the room slowly.

"What's the real reason you're here? Just tell me, I won't be mad unless you put it off until you're in trouble and I have to bail you out." Max said, dropping onto the couch.

Alec shook his head slowly. "I'm not sure you can make good on that promise."

"Try me."

"I'm already in trouble." He started.

Max's eyes widened. "Please tell me you didn't lead a bunch of guys with guns to my apartment. Alec, it's one in the morning!" She whispered, trying to keep the volume down for Original Cindy's sake since the walls were paper thin.

"No, no, no. Not like that… exactly. I don't think it's life threatening."

"Why the trouble then?"

Alec bit his lip slightly. "Well… My problem is I don't know what her reaction will be."

Max blinked. "Who exactly?"

Alec sat down on the other side of the couch and took a deep breath. "There's this girl and unfortunately I'm kinda hooked on her despite my best attempts to remain otherwise. She's bossy, she gets annoyed with me, and she's only ever been interested in someone else as long as I've known her…"

Max felt her face turning more and more red as she tried to process this. _Is this actually...happening?_

"...But for the life of me, I can't think about anyone else… and I was wondering how she'd react if I told her."

Max gaped for another minute or two and Alec didn't meet her eyes. He glanced around the room, stared at the floor, and turned to look out the window as though considering jumping. Finally, he looked at the door and Max followed his train of thought.

"Don't…"

"Huh?"

"Don't go. Just, uh, give me a minute." She answered simply, trying to process.

Alec looked anxious. "Actually, if you're planning to hit me or something I'd like a head start before you start throwing punches."

"I won't."

"Okay." He stood there awkwardly waiting, stuffing his hands into his pockets and rocking slightly from his heels to his toes.

Max glanced around for a chair and sat down, feeling more shaky than she wanted to be right then.

About five minutes passed and Max could tell Alec was getting more and more anxious. She stood up and walked over to him.

"-Listen, Max, if you don't feel the same just tell me, okay? But don't avoid me or anything, alright? I still want to be friends and I promise I'll try to move on if you really want me to and-"

"-Alec." He snapped his mouth shut and Max's serious expression suddenly broke into a smile. "Shut up." She shook her head, slid one hand around the back of his neck and kissed him.

Alec's eyes shot open in shock and he panicked with not knowing what to do with his hands before hesitantly kissing her back and sliding one hand around her waist to pull her closer and moving one up to trace her jaw with his thumb. He realized he was drowning again, but this time he was drowning in _her_ and that was much _much_ more doable.

 _ **Fin.**_

 _ **Hope you liked it! What happens next is kinda up to you. Fluff? Moving into an M -rating? Jump ahead several months to a wedding day? You decide...**_

 _ **Thanks for reading!**_

 _ **E. Nigma**_


End file.
